Book Look

Health & Wellness News

Spring 2018

Book Look

Strength for the Journey by Diana Butler Bass

As a standard in the field of spiritual autobiography, Diana Butler Bass’ Strength for the Journey has been a guide for thousands of Christians who have also found themselves “journeying” along a path toward a faith different from that discovered in childhood. This new edition retains all that drew readers to its pages alongside new material written especially for this second edition.

It is Bass’ lived experience that it is through the strength offered by communities of faith that we find ourselves and shape our faith. In deeply personal and thought-provoking portraits of eight parishes she attended over two decades, Bass explores the major issues that have confronted mainline denominations, congregations, and parishioners during those years — from debates over women clergy to conflicts about diversity and community to scrimmages between tradition and innovation — while allowing the reader to follow Bass’ own spiritual growth and the communities that supported, nurtured, and challenged her.

“Telling a story involves honest reflection on our spiritual struggles. The new edition of this book asked me to revisit my life’s trials and joys. In some ways, my story has not changed very much over the decades. I am, and remain to be, a restless soul coming to terms with loss, doubt, fear, and rejection as well as seeking my place in the universe and rediscovering the meaning and purpose of life. Through it all, there has been a shining mystery, a light of wonder and awe, always drawing me and driving me toward new levels of compassion, insight, and connection with that which dances right beyond the horizon.”

Strength for the Journey may be ordered directly from Church Publishing Incorporated, or from your favorite local bookseller.